Episode 18
“Oh, I see. No wonder he didn’t come for so long.”
Though she sounded like she was trying to hide her disappointment, she couldn’t fool my eyes. Seria was clearly delighted.
“That’s a shame. I wish he’d stayed just a bit longer. I didn’t even get to say goodbye…”
Pelles, on the other hand, looked genuinely regretful.
“Something must have come up. He said he’d come again, but we don’t know when that might be.”
“I see. ‘Again’… I do hope we’ll meet him once more.”
While Pelles seemed to hope for a next time, Seria’s expression soured again. She didn’t seem to like the idea that there might be a “next time.”
“Well, now that Brother Teron’s gone, we’re going to get even busier.”
With Teron suddenly gone, we’d lost one pair of helping hands. So now the three of us had to work even harder.
And there really wasn’t much time left before the temple’s grand opening.
About a week passed since Teron’s departure. During that time, Pelles, Seria, and I worked diligently to prepare for the temple’s opening.
And finally, today was the day—the official opening of the Lilith Temple.
Before opening the temple gates, I stepped up to the completed statue of Lady Lilith.
‘It’s truly beautiful.’
The statue, completed two nights ago by Mitchell, looked so lifelike it was almost as if a real person stood before me.
I had expressed my deep gratitude to Mitchell with a small but sincere gesture. Of course, he tried to refuse, but I insisted.
Receiving such a masterpiece and doing nothing in return just didn’t sit right with me.
‘I did heal James, but still…’
I had also wanted to do something extra for Mitchell, who had suffered for the past ten years. So I gave him a large sum—enough for his family to escape the slums.
After those brief thoughts, I knelt before Lady Lilith’s statue and quietly called her name.
“Lady Lilith.”
With my hands clasped, I called to my god, my demon. A dark crimson aura stirred atop the statue. The sluggishly swirling energy soon sank into the statue, and a voice flowed out.
—Have you been well, my child?
“Lady Lilith!”
At the sound of her familiar voice, I smiled without even realizing it.
Right after the statue had been completed, I had prayed in front of it just in case. And to my surprise, Lady Lilith had spoken to me through the statue. She was quite pleased with how it turned out.
—No matter how many times I look at it, it’s so well-made. Though, of course, it doesn’t fully capture all my beauty.
She said teasingly.
“Well, Mitchell never had the chance to see you in person.”
I answered in a lighthearted tone, and Lady Lilith laughed softly.
—Hehe, true enough. Still, I really do love it. He captured the details of even a single strand of my hair.
“Yes. That’s why I made sure to pay him generously.”
—You did well, my dear. By the way, isn’t today the temple’s opening day?
She asked gently. I answered with a hint of nervousness.
“Yes, that’s right. Soon, the believers will start arriving. Though… there may not be that many…”
—That’s alright, Elly. I know just how hard you’ve worked.
“Thank you, Lady Lilith. But one day… your name will spread far and wide, all across the world!”
I declared confidently. For the one who had saved me from the pits of hell—I would strive toward that goal, no matter how long it took.
—I’m looking forward to that day. So be strong today too, my little darling.
“Yes, Lady Lilith!”
Ever since the statue had been completed, I visited it often. Talking with Lady Lilith through it made me feel like she was truly with me, even for just a short while.
That’s why I had come to see her again today. And after hearing her warm encouragement, I felt reinvigorated.
Once I confirmed she had departed, I stood up.
‘Now then…’
It was finally time to open the temple doors. As I stepped out of the building, Pelles and Seria, dressed neatly, greeted me.
“It’s time.”
“Let’s go, Elly.”
The priest robes we were wearing were quite different from those of the old Maliante Church.
Of course, back then, Seria and I had practically been in rags.
Anyway, Maliante’s priest robes had a white base with blue accents, but Lilith’s were different.
A black base with gold accents—these robes were specially made to reflect Lady Lilith’s essence.
‘Though the ones Seria and I wear are in children’s sizes.’
Also, Seria had expressed that she no longer wished to be called a saintess.
But since there wasn’t a compelling reason to change the title immediately, we decided to revisit the matter later.
“Let’s open the temple doors now.”
I said, looking toward the firmly shut entrance. At my words, Pelles stepped forward.
Creeeak—
At last, the temple doors opened, and we saw the visitors waiting beyond.
At the front stood Mitchell and his wife, James. Behind them were residents from the slums.
“This is the beginning.”
I said to the two beside me and greeted the approaching believers.
“Welcome to the Temple of Lilith.”
After the temple’s opening, more people came than expected—likely thanks to the promotion we had done.
A large portion of the crowd came from the slums.
Word had spread that I provided free meals and rescued kidnapped children from the slums. And since our temple was located in a remote, countryside-like area, news traveled fast between nearby villages.
Because of that, people from neighboring towns began to visit, and the temple grew faster than anticipated.
And just like that, two years passed. I was now seven years old.
“Here you go, Pelles.”
I handed him today’s approval documents. In the past two years, Pelles had become the temple’s high priest. He smiled as he accepted the paperwork.
“Thank you for your hard work, Saintess.”
“No problem. Have a good evening.”
“You too, Saintess.”
He bowed respectfully and left the office.
With the number of believers increasing over the years, new priests had joined our temple. There were fewer than ten of them, but they were carefully chosen from among our devoted followers—people of good character.
And Pelles not only trained them but also handled all supervision.
Knock, knock.
After Pelles left, someone knocked on the office door.
“Come in.”
With permission granted, Seria stepped inside.
“Elly, are you busy?”
“No, I just finished everything.”
Seria was now nine. Still a child, but she was visibly growing more beautiful by the day. She often said I was also quite the pretty girl.
‘But this curly hair of mine is such a pain.’
It was hard to manage.
Oh, and Seria had officially stepped down from the role of saintess. She insisted that since I was the only one who could directly communicate with Lady Lilith, it made sense for there to be just one saintess—me.
With her being that adamant, I couldn’t argue.
So Seria now worked as a priestess, and also served as my personal assistant.
“Then let’s have dinner together—it’s been a while.”
She smiled sweetly. Since the temple opened and the number of believers grew daily, I’d been swamped with work. Naturally, I hadn’t had much time to spend with her.
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
So, I decided to spend tonight with Seria.
We chatted endlessly over dinner, catching up on a month’s worth of conversation. Before we knew it, it was already late evening.
Feeling tired, I washed up quickly and went to bed—but sleep wouldn’t come.
So I went outside for a night walk.
Since it was late, the temple gates were closed, and with lights out, there were no priests in sight.
‘Quiet. I like it.’
I walked slowly through the expanded garden—much larger than it had been two years ago.
Though we never formally asked for donations from believers, some voluntarily gave offerings from time to time. Thanks to that, we’d been able to expand the temple.
Not the building itself, but the garden had been extended slightly.
The original Maliante Temple had been quite large for a countryside temple, so there was no need for construction at the moment.
Thud.
I eventually lay down on the grass. Ever since I had first looked up at the star-filled sky, I made it a habit to do this from time to time.
‘A little healing is a must when life is busy.’
I hoped things would stay peaceful like this forever.
But just as that thought crossed my mind, I sensed a presence outside the temple walls.
‘What was that?’
In the past two years, no one had dared to intrude upon the temple grounds. Occasionally, a drunken believer would stumble by, but this wasn’t one of those times. I couldn’t smell alcohol.
The only suspicious people I could think of were the slum thugs I’d beaten up two years ago.
‘But they disappeared without a trace.’
Maybe they went broke, or their superiors dealt with them.
‘So then… who is it?’
Just as I was thinking that—
Someone suddenly leapt over the wall.
To be continued
